Statewide pay Government data
Construction laborers in South Carolina earn a statewide median of $42,940 a year, 8% below the typical U.S. metro, ranking #42 of 50 states and DC. About 19,620 people work in the trade statewide.
Statewide pay range
States ranked near South Carolina
See all states on the construction laborers nationwide.
Pay by city Government data
BLS publishes construction laborer pay for 8 South Carolina metros. The highest-paying is Hilton Head Island at $45,750, followed by Florence and Greenville.
| Metro | Median pay | Real pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hilton Head IslandSOUTH CAROLINA · SC | $45,750 | $46,676 | 910 |
| FlorenceSOUTH CAROLINA · SC | $45,230 | $52,124 | 650 |
| GreenvilleSOUTH CAROLINA · SC | $44,380 | $47,587 | 3,250 |
| CharlestonSOUTH CAROLINA · SC | $43,630 | $43,214 | 3,710 |
| ColumbiaSOUTH CAROLINA · SC | $42,630 | $45,515 | 2,610 |
| SpartanburgSOUTH CAROLINA · SC | $42,210 | $46,359 | 1,310 |
| SumterSOUTH CAROLINA · SC | $38,650 | $43,910 | 390 |
| Myrtle BeachSOUTH CAROLINA · SC | $38,210 | $40,804 | 1,440 |
Pay: BLS OEWS, May 2025 (metro-level). Real pay: BEA price parities, 2024. How we calculate
Pay outside the cities Government data
BLS also reports pay for South Carolina's rural (nonmetropolitan) regions.
BLS OEWS nonmetropolitan areas, May 2025.
The job (national)
Perform tasks involving physical labor at construction sites. May operate hand and power tools of all types: air hammers, earth tampers, cement mixers, small mechanical hoists, surveying and measuring equipment, and a variety of other equipment and instruments. May clean and prepare sites, dig trenches, set braces to support the sides of excavations, erect scaffolding, and clean up rubble, debris, and other waste materials. May assist other craft workers.
Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7.3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 120,000 openings a year. Typical training: short-term on-the-job training.
Nationally, construction laborers have 218 injuries or illnesses serious enough to miss work per 10,000 full-time workers, 2.5× the rate for all jobs (87). The most common cause is being struck by or caught in objects and equipment.
What the work is like Government data
How often construction laborers deal with each condition, from surveys of workers in the job.
Getting started usually takes some preparation (high school plus months of training).
O*NET 31.0 Work Context and Job Zones (U.S. Department of Labor), national.
Registered apprenticeships Government data
Of construction laborer apprentices in South Carolina who finished or left a registered program in fiscal years 2020–2024, 47% completed (U.S.: 40%), about 12 graduates a year. The typical program runs 5,100 hours, about 3 years of full-time work. Search open registered programs near you on the official Apprenticeship Finder.
U.S. Department of Labor, RAPIDS apprentice records (Completion Rate Analysis), FY2020–2024 exits.
Serious injuries & deaths reported to OSHA Government data
South Carolina runs its own workplace-safety program (an OSHA State Plan), so its injury reports aren't in the federal dataset. Nationally, in states federal OSHA covers, structural and exterior contractors filed 4,271 severe injury reports from 2015 to 2024; the most common cause was falls, slips and trips (57%). OSHA also opened 44 fatality investigations at structural and exterior contractors in South Carolina over the same years (federal and state programs).
OSHA Severe Injury Reports, January 2015–December 2024 (states under federal OSHA only).
Fatality investigations: OSHA Fatality Inspection Data, events 2015–2024, all states.
Licensing in South Carolina Official source
The main state licensing office in South Carolina is the South Carolina Contractors' Licensing Board. It can point you to the right license for construction laborers.
Official South Carolina licensing site ↗
Requirements for construction laborers vary by state and sometimes by city; always confirm with the official agency.
Union membership
In 2025, 2.7% of wage and salary workers in South Carolina were union members, below the U.S. rate of about 10% (#49 of 51 states and D.C.), and 4.1% were covered by a union contract. These figures cover all jobs in the state, not only construction laborers.
BLS Union Members, 2025 (Current Population Survey), table 5.
Cities in South Carolina
All trades in South Carolina.